Old Man LÁI 莱 lived in the Spring & Autumn Period (period 04d) of the Zhōu 周 dynasty (period 04). He was a person of great learning, although he lived in obscurity. It is said that the ruler of the state of Chǔ 楚 tried to recruit him to assist in the administration of that state, but he declined, saying that he was needed at home to care for his parents. And thus he was noted for his filial nature. He respectfully cared for his two parents, preparing them sweet and crispy foods, neither too hard nor too soft, neither too sweet nor too hot nor too salty. He was over seventy, but he never mentioned the word “old.”
One day Old Man Lái noticed his parents laughing at some neighborhood children. So the next day he put on childish, five-colored patterned clothes and played like a child before his parents, and they thought it was very funny; Sometimes when he carried water into the room he would slip and fall, and then he would cry like a baby to amuse his parents. His parents lived into their nineties, always happy, and always content with “their little boy.”